Santorum: Ailes 'can do whatever he wants'

12/5/12 10:54 AM EST

Rick Santorum, former presidential candidate and former Fox News contributor, says it is absolutely fine for Roger Ailes, the president of Fox News, to recruit presidential candidates.

"Absolutely, he can do whatever he wants to do," Santorum told POLITICO last night at a book signing in McClean, Va. "He's a great American. He's a good man, he believes -- I'm sure he does -- that our country is in peril and he wanted who he thought was the best person to win that race."

In 2011, Ailes tried to enlist then-Gen. David Petraeus to run for president, a move that -- far from causing controversy for Ailes -- seems to have surprised no one.

Santorum said he had no hard feelings about not being Ailes' first choice, but said that "establishment Republicans living in the major cities of our country, [are] not comfortable with folks who speak from the heart and from the heartland."

"I've never been the darling of the folks sitting in New York and Washington trying to figure out on their chess board who the best guy to run for president is. I mean that's been pretty obvious," Santorum said.